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Jos Buttler and his England side are determined to reaffirm their aggressive brand of cricket in the three-match ODI series against India and beyond, despite past struggles to execute it on Indian pitches. Speaking ahead of the first ODI here, the England skipper made it clear that his team will not deviate from their attacking philosophy — a style that once brought them white-ball dominance, but failed in the last 50-over World Cup, where they finished a disappointing seventh.
‘Important to stay on track’
“We want to play in exactly the same way,” Buttler stated in the press conference. “It’s really important that we stay on track and stay on course with the way we want to play and try to execute that to the best of our ability in these games. We believe that’s the best way for us to win games and get the best out of our players.”
Despite India offering conditions conducive to aggressive batting, England’s high-risk, high-reward approach has often faltered on these pitches. Buttler, however, believes execution, rather than strategy itself, was the real issue. “Whether you want to be aggressive, conservative or measured, you still got to go out there and execute well,” he explained. “If I look back at that [2023] World Cup, the two teams [India and Australia] in the final were playing a really positive and aggressive brand of cricket. You think of the way Travis Head took that final on with the bat, so you see it can be successful. This can be a great part of the world to play that way,” he added.
Buttler also credited Rohit Sharma for leading India towards a more attacking mindset and reaffirmed England’s commitment to a similar approach. “Rohit takes a lot of credit for the way he’s come out and played himself as a captain and pushed India more towards that style of cricket. So absolutely, we want to be exactly the same. We believe that’s the way that will give us the best chance of achieving positive results.”
Root to bat at No. 3
He also confirmed that experienced batter Joe Root will return to his usual No. 3 position. “Yeah, he’ll be at No. 3. He’s one of the great players of the game and has been a vital part of ODI cricket for England for a long time,” Buttler said. Ahead of the Champions Trophy, this series will be a crucial test of whether England can rediscover the fearless approach that once made them world champions.
England’s playing XI
B Duckett, P Salt, J Root, H Brook, J Buttler (c & wk) L Livingstone, J Bethell, B Carse, J Archer, A Rashid and S Mahmood.
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